Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2009 13:06:53 -0600
Reply-To: Max Wellhouse <dimwittedmoose@CFU.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Max Wellhouse <dimwittedmoose@CFU.NET>
Subject: Re: Engine stutters, tach nosedives. Then, just as suddenly,
it's normal again.
In-Reply-To: <458951.3054.qm@web52102.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
I was really hoping to see duct tape and chicken wire, but pull ties
aren't near as shade tree!!! Duct tape doesn't stick to greasy dizzy
housings either but the pull ties might. Skinny bungie cord and
thick rubber bands? Maybe one of those rolled edges on the open end
of a Nitrile glove, but it might be too big around
I epoxied one back in some years ago, but I wasn't on the road at
the time. When I hgot the money, I bought a new one and yes, my
symptoms were identical with the dropping tach. One things pretty
certain, when the tach jumps around and your right foot's not making
the changes, ignition and electrics is a great place to start
sniffing out the problem.
DM&FS
At 10:26 AM 2/28/2009, dylan friedman wrote:
>Here is a pic of my emergency fix of the Hall Sender connector on
>the exterior of the dist. Got me home safe and sound. Swapped in a
>dist. with a good connection and it is still going strong.
>http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/517437.jpg dylan
>________________________________ From: Greg Potts
><greg@POTTSFAMILY.CA> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Sent: Saturday,
>February 28, 2009 11:08:54 AM Subject: Re: Engine stutters, tach
>nosedives. Then, just as suddenly, it's normal again. Hi Ken, The
>Hall sensor definitely has potential to be a culprit here, as a
>no-start condition required that it be removed and reattached while
>at EveryBus just after I picked up the vanagon. Since that time the
>external connector has been held to the distributor with a sturdy
>cable tie, and everything has been fine. I checked it yesterday, it
>remains dry and well anchored. I have a complete spare engine, but
>it's a 1.9 and the hall sensor has a completely different connector,
>so it's not the easy swap I thought it would be. My franken-engine
>is a 1.9 block using 2.1FI and cooling. I guess I'll add a
>replacement hall sensor kit to the ASAP tune-up list and keep my
>eyes open for a spare ECU locally. But if things suddenly go south
>and I need one in a hurry I certainly appreciate knowing where I can
>get one when I need it. Happy Trails, Greg Potts 1973/74/79
>Westfakia "Bob the Tomato" 1987 Wolfsburg Weekender Hardtop
>www.busesofthecorn.com www.pottsfamily.ca Ken Wilford wrote: > Greg,
>I was having this problem and it progressively got worse over >
>time. In my case it turned out to be the hall sensor in the >
>distributor. I replaced this and have been fine ever since. >
>However it can also be the ECU since they are known for having bad >
>solder joints and since they have the coil driver (ignition
>module) > built in you can see how this can cause cutting out. > >
>The big problem is the problem being intermittent. I had this
>problem > rear it's ugly head on the coldest day of the winter for
>two winters. > The first time I replaced the ECU and changed the
>fuel filter and it > seemed to go away. > The second time it got to
>a point where the van would no longer run and > I swapped in a known
>good distributor and found the problem. > > Let me know if we can
>help you further. I have rebuilt ECUs in stock > for $250 and
>rebuild distributors as well (or you can buy the hall > sensor only
>and rebuild your own). > > Hope this helps, > Ken Wilford > John
>3:16 > www.vanagain.com
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